Harlequin Romantic Suspense March 2021

by Anna J. Stewart

  Tatiana stared at her hands, as if she hadn’t considered the possibility of her dad dying while on the run.

  Travis stepped forward again, the need to protect her and their child pushing past his good sense.

  “Come on, Melissa. I mean, Chief Colton. Do you really expect her to do your work for you?”

  His sister gave him the kind of look that would have sent him running when they were kids. Then she turned her attention back to Tatiana. Why had he asked Melissa to come in the first place? Had he really thought that would help? His sister and Tatiana’s father were on opposite sides of the law, and Travis’s meddling had done nothing to change that.

  “Or I could help him prove his innocence,” Tatiana announced defiantly.

  “That’s a possibility, too, once he’s in police custody.” Melissa’s expression was a mask of professional distancing. “He’ll get his day in court with proper representation.”

  “Then he’ll be acquitted. As I said, you don’t even have a motive for him.” For several seconds, Tatiana stared out the window, appearing lost in her thoughts.

  “Look, Miss Davison. Tatiana. Your father is wanted for violent crimes. To your question, proof of motive is not required for a criminal prosecution. Anyway, that will be handled in the courts. As police, our job here is only to enforce the law and investigate crimes.”

  “And I’m sure you do a bang-up job,” Tatiana said with a sigh. “But, as I told the officers many times, I don’t know—Well, I didn’t know where my father was. Nor do I know why he was in New York, or where he’ll go next.”

  “All you have to do is tell us about some places that held meaning for your family. Places your father might return now since they would make him feel safe.”

  “But he’s my dad.” Tatiana spoke in a small voice, but it was as if she’d shouted. All her fear and heartbreak seemed to have been squeezed into those four tiny words. The emotion gathering in Travis’s throat surprised him as much as the heaviness that settled into his limbs. Her loss seemed to become his own.

  Melissa opened her mouth as if to reason with her, only to close her lips again without speaking.

  “You might be able to track down my father and send him to jail, but you’ll have to do it without my help,” Tatiana said.

  Then she hurried from the room. Soon her footfalls could be heard on the stairs to the lower level. Travis grimaced as he stared in the direction she’d disappeared. They hadn’t made it back to her hotel yet, so she didn’t have any clothes or toiletries.

  “You’ve really stepped in the middle of it this time.”

  Melissa stood facing him with her arms crossed.

  Travis copied her stance. “If you’re going to tell me that Colton Plastics should withdraw its offer, save your breath. She’s a great addition to the company, and we couldn’t withdraw at this point without risking a lawsuit, anyway.”

  “I’m not talking about the job.” She made a sweeping gesture of the room around her. “But did you have to let her stay here? I get it that you don’t want to be associated with the members of our family involved in law enforcement, but did you have to give us a slap in the face by inviting her to stay with you?”

  “This might come as a surprise, but not everything is about you. Or even about the GGPD.” He held his hands wide. “Besides, Tatiana isn’t even the suspect in a case. Clarke couldn’t say that about Everleigh.”

  “At least Tatiana isn’t a suspect yet. But if she’s harboring a fugitive—” She stopped and stared at him, wide-eyed. “Wait. Are you dating her? Or trying to? After avoiding relationships for years, this is the one you choose? Not only do you work with her, but also, well, you know...”

  “I’m not dating her,” he spat, hoping to hide his discomfort, even if he hadn’t lied.

  “Then why is she here?”

  “She just returned to the US. She’s all alone. And everyone’s coming after her. Your department. The press. Maybe even eventually her dad.”

  Melissa tilted her head to the side. “This protective side of you is new, and any other time I might appreciate it, but you have to realize that Tatiana Davison isn’t your responsibility.”

  “Sure she is,” he said before he could stop himself.

  “How’s that?”

  She watched him the way she probably did suspects during questioning. Like they must have, he couldn’t help squirming, so he moved to the window before finally turning back to her.

  “She’s the ... Well, like a told you earlier, she’s the co-CEO at Colton Plastics.”

  Her expression told him that, like earlier, she didn’t believe him. If she only knew. But, for once, Melissa didn’t call him on his bull.

  “I guess you know what you’re doing.”

  “I do. Now you need to get home. I bet you haven’t seen Antonio all day.”

  Bringing up his sister’s fiancé, Antonio Ruiz, was unfair, but he needed to convince her to leave so he could get back to Tatiana.

  “Guess I’ll call him to say good night.” At the door, she turned around once more. “If your co-CEO tries to hide her father, I will arrest her, even if I have to do it in your home.”

  “Noted.”

  “And if you help her do it, I’ll—”

  “I get it.”

  She lifted both hands in frustration, but finally she exited and closed the door behind her.

  Travis barely waited for the patrol car to pull from his drive before he rushed downstairs. He wasn’t sure what he would say when he reached Tatiana. Somehow, though, he had to convince her that despite his mistake in bringing in another Colton to harass her, his place was still where she needed to stay. What he couldn’t decide was whether it was for her and their child’s security—or his.

  CHAPTER 8

  The dog walker rounded the corner just as the last patrol car pulled away from the entrance to Grave Gulch Park. His yellow Labrador retriever trudged beside him, her fur nearly blending in with the snow. He’d done such a good job of disappearing into the night himself, with his dark hat, coat, and boots, that he’d risked their lives every time they’d stepped off a curb around all the unobservant drivers.

  Why weren’t the police worried about those menaces to society, endangering the lives of innocent pedestrians and pets? But no. They were focused on following poor Tatiana, as if they expected her to flip on her own dad. The cops were sniffing along the wrong trail this time. He smiled into the darkness. Tatiana Davison was no more a snitch than anyone could call him innocent. Not after tonight.

  “She’s a good daughter, Polly. Just like you’re a good girl.”

  The dog sat on the sidewalk, which was a narrow trench between two snowdrifts, and stared up at him, whining.

  “Now don’t complain. How many times do you get a good long walk like this one? Anyway, you’ve got a fur coat, plus that sweater and boots. I’m the one who’s freezing.”

  He zipped his parka higher and tugged on the leash. After a little reluctance, the dog plodded forward again. She wasn’t as enthusiastic as she’d been two hours earlier when he’d driven her from his house on the unfortunate east side of Grave Gulch Boulevard to a spot near the park on the west side. But he never had to question Polly’s loyalty. Unlike so many others he knew.

  At the next corner, he stopped and glanced back at the park. It looked empty and forlorn now that the flashing lights from patrol cars and the ambulance, plus the crowd of nosy neighbors, were gone. He would still find crime-scene tape if he followed the bike trails into the park. It just wouldn’t be the same.

  The rush after firing his nine-millimeter semiautomatic and watching a dark hole bloom on his target’s chest had been so amazing that a weaker man would have squeezed the trigger a second time. Even with that silencer, that hadn’t been nearly as quiet as he’d hoped. Still, he was too disciplined to lose control like that.
Though he’d found staging the body less, well, satisfying than taking the original shot, and quite messy, he’d carefully stuck to the plan. He’d arranged the guy’s arms over his abdomen and had taken only cash, though that wallet had contained a half dozen credit cards, one of them platinum.

  But an homage had to be perfect. A single gunshot wound to the chest. Hands folded just right. Only cash missing.

  Len Davison deserved to be honored, if for no other reason than he’d made headlines in the Grave Gulch Gazette with a name other than Colton. A serial killer right in his town? Davison would put Grave Gulch, Michigan, on the map. The shooter had been shocked by his good fortune, and that was before he’d learned that Davison’s beautiful daughter was returning to town and would be working at Colton Plastics.

  If that wasn’t kismet, he didn’t know what was.

  For weeks, he’d been planning tonight’s events to coincide with Tatiana’s arrival. No detail was too inconsequential if he hoped to impress Len Davison’s only child with this tribute to her dad. And it had played out perfectly. Even the victim had arrived in the park alone, saving him from the moral dilemma of having to separate a pet from its owner. That was the one thing about Davison’s work that hadn’t quite fit for him, leaving an animal stranded.

  What kind of deviant walked on a winter night without a dog, anyway? Well, he had earlier, out of necessity, but he couldn’t have created the scene accurately with Polly there. Also, he needed to protect his dog from seeing sights that might upset her.

  Tatiana would be so impressed with his efforts. She was a daddy’s girl, after all.

  “It’s as if you brought Tatiana to me as a gift,” he said to Len and to the darkness.

  When his dog whined again, he startled and glanced around to ensure he hadn’t been overheard. He would need to be more careful now that the police would be hunting for Davison in the area.

  “Okay, girl, let’s go home. We both deserve treats tonight.”

  Polly picked up on one of her familiar words as she danced around, pulling on the leash. He tugged it a little tighter and looked back at the park once more, farther away now and swallowed by winter and night.

  Even if his trigger finger didn’t tingle the way it had earlier, and his heart was no longer beating out a hard-rock drum solo, he was content as he returned to his SUV and opened the passenger door for Polly. If the pattern held, Len Davison would one day be immortalized in true-crime books alongside some of his other favorite serial killers. He couldn’t wait to add those volumes to his collection. Whenever he read them, he could relive that exhilarating moment when he’d watched that guy hit the snow, already spattered with his blood. Even better, Davison’s daughter would be cuddled up next to him while he read.

  * * *

  Tatiana stepped into the elevator at Colton Plastics two mornings later, grateful to have survived her first solo walk-through in the lab on the first floor. She hadn’t felt alone, however, when she could see and feel the gazes of so many employees on her, some blatantly gawking while others were more covert.

  She couldn’t blame them for their curiosity. Travis might have sneaked her into the building again that morning, using the same company van and procedures they’d employed since Monday night, but the rest of the staff had been forced to pass reporters shouting questions for two days. Didn’t the media think it was premature to ask them all what it was like to work with a serial killer’s daughter when she’d been there less than a week?

  As the elevator doors closed, Tatiana sighed. At least she would have a two-minute break from having to feel like a bug in an insect collection. How would she ever be an effective manager and earn the respect of the employees when she was already the focus of break-room gossip?

  The doors stopped and reversed course, as if someone had pushed the up arrow too soon.

  “Sorry about that,” Jan Kennedy said as she boarded the elevator. “But this thing takes forever to return if it reaches the third floor. By tomorrow, you’ll see why almost everyone takes the stairs most of the time.”

  “I’ll make sure to wear comfortable shoes.”

  “You’ll be glad you did.” Jan pointed to the low-heeled, sensible walkers she’d worn with her navy slacks and sweater.

  Tatiana glanced down at her own high-heeled boots below her long skirt. The footwear and probably most of the clothes that she and Travis had retrieved from her hotel made more sense in fashion-forward Paris than a small city in Michigan. She clearly had some shopping to do.

  “Have you made it through the pile of résumés on your desk?” Jan asked as she checked off items on her list. “Call me and I’ll schedule the interviews.”

  “I’ll finish those today. Travis is lucky to have you as an assistant.”

  The older woman smiled at that, deep dimples denting her cheeks. “I let him know that every chance I get.”

  “Well, good,” Tatiana said as the doors slid open. Jan looked up from the emails on her phone and started out the door. “Oh, Jan.” She waited for the other woman to turn back. “Sorry about Monday morning. It was an intense first day. At least yesterday was a little better.”

  “Don’t give it another thought. I imagine it was quite a surprise when the police arrived.”

  “And about the other thing later, sorry for that, too. Jet lag really got to me, so I wasn’t feeling great, and then the police showing up was so upsetting...” Tatiana paused, running out of excuses.

  Jan brushed her hand through the air as if to push Tatiana’s worries aside. “None of my business, but I hope you’re feeling better.”

  Though Tatiana suspected that Travis’s assistant knew more than she was letting on, she couldn’t help her momentary relief. Keeping her secret would be tough if she spent every morning in her office restroom getting an up-close view of the commode.

  “I do feel better.”

  “Good to hear.”

  After half a dozen crackers, anyway, Tatiana was confident that the breakfast Travis had insisted that she eat would stay down. Her lips lifted at the memory of the hot bowl of oatmeal, plate of fruit, and glass of milk that had been waiting for her when she made it upstairs that morning.

  How was she supposed to keep up her guard around him when he kept doing nice things like that? She wasn’t even holding a grudge over his misguided decision to set up a chat with his sister the other night. The least she could do was to be a little suspicious of his protectiveness over her, but the temptation to, just this once, let someone take care of her was too strong. Anyway, his attention was kind of sweet.

  Jan took off down the corridor at a good clip with Tatiana trailing behind her. They shifted to the side as they came upon three employees, too caught up in their own conversation to pay attention to hall traffic.

  “I’ve been on the phone with them all morning,” the pale woman with a short cap of red hair was telling them.

  The older man, a ring of salt-and-pepper hair topping his olive-hued face, stepped into Jan and Tatiana’s path without looking up from the tablet in his hand. “If we can’t get the plastic-injection-molding shop to put a rush on that repair—”

  The third employee, with an umber complexion and a clean-shaven head, reached out his arm like a toll-booth bar. “Watch out.”

  The three managed to stop without a collision, but Tatiana still pressed her back to the wall. They trampled each other’s apologies.

  “Good morning, everyone,” Jan said. “Have you met our new co-CEO, Tatiana Davison?”

  All three shook their heads. The odds were still fair that anyone they passed would require an introduction, even after two days. Jan gestured to the woman, then the older man and finally the younger one.

  “Meet Christa Zimmerman, Enzio DeLuca and Blake Foster. Three of our finest engineers.”

  “The backbone of the company, of course,” Tatiana said with a grin as she s
hook their hands. “But as an engineer myself, my opinion might be slanted in your favor.”

  She pretended not to notice when they sneaked glances at her while continuing the trip past the elevator toward the east stairway.

  “It’ll get easier,” Jan assured her as they stopped at Tatiana’s office.

  “I appreciate that.”

  “Oh.” The assistant held up her index finger. “I’m supposed to let you know that sometime tomorrow, the guys from the IT department, either Lucas McAllister or Dylan Evans, will be doing some work with your computer.”

  “Is there a problem with it?”

  “No. They’re just updating your security. And don’t be surprised if you get another call from human resources. They’ll want to register you for some diversity and anti-harassment compliance training.”

  “Good to know. Hopefully, I can hire my AA this week, so you won’t have to split your time between Travis and me.”

  “I don’t mind. Makes him appreciate me more,” Jan said with a grin.

  Tatiana hurried into her office and sat behind her desk. Getting up to speed on her work was taking longer than she’d hoped, so she promised herself she would finish evaluating résumés before lunch. That while in her office she could avoid curious stares from the employees and glimpses of reporters were bonuses, as far as she was concerned.

  Unfortunately, the silence also gave her mind too much freedom to wander. Instead of the words on the pages citing candidates’ qualifications, she could only see that news broadcast from the other night. For just one moment, she’d believed that it had all been a bad dream. If her father couldn’t have committed one murder, then maybe he was innocent of the other two. Chief Colton had dashed that hope with talk of more DNA evidence. But then, Len Davison had done a fine job of crushing her belief in him when he’d phoned after his release from jail.

  I’m sorry, dumpling.

  The words replayed in her mind like a song on repeat. Those three words, the only ones he’d spoken before hanging up, hadn’t been part of an outright confession but enough to make a daughter question her own father and then despise herself for her disloyalty.